Category Archives: recipe

We are still here though things have been rather quiet. The holidays were very busy and we have barely seen each other (Libby and I) let alone done much blogging. We hope to fix that soon though and bring you reviews of a few other tea spots soon. Mean while there are always towels right? Here are a few we scoped out in the last couple months.

Hand Woven Towels from milka-Loom– Bright geometric borders make me want to break out the Fiestaware (if only I had some!) and host a brightly colored tea party.

Fantail Bird Tea Towel from Melina Martin– I am sure you have noticed that I like bird prints, this fun detailed print of the New Zealand Fantail is no exception. Now if only her Hey Diddle Diddle pillow came as a towel!

Kitchen Conversion Towel from Sweet Fine Day – I love the graphic on this towel, not to mention how handy this would be when baking as the measuring cup I want always seems to be in the sink.

Today I also have a recipe recommendation for you. Over the holidays I made these Smocky Bacon Ginger Cookies after reading this post over on Pork, Knife and Spoon. I love Shauna’s blogs, there is always something yummy to try out (even if you aren’t gluten free). My mother-in-law didn’t even give me the option of taking the leftovers home they are so yummy.

Nothing really says fall like pumpkins, I love pumpkins and pumpkin pie. Back in college I came across a great recipe for pumpkin bars, but really it is more like cake so that is what I call it. This cake is moist and flavorful with out the dense “sit in your stomach” feel that pumpkin pie can give you. Since Will’s birthday is in the fall he gets this cake and he has been known to finish off half the pan all by himself.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups of turbinado sugar

15 oz. can of pumpkin puree

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp each of ground cinnamon, cloves and ginger

3/4 tsp salt

Mix the wet stuff (eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin) in a medium sized mixing bowl. In another bowl mix the dry stuff (flours, baking power and soda, spices and salt). Combine dry ingredients with wet by adding small amounts of the dry stuff at a time, stirring as you go until totally combined and not lumpy, a whisk helps, but stop mixing asap or you will end up with a flat cake. Pour into a greased and floured baking pan 9×10 and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 min. Cake will pull a bit from the sides of the pan and a knife will come up clean in the center when done.

For an easy icing I just make a glaze with confectioner’s sugar, a splash of vanilla extract, and a few tablespoons of milk. I don’t measure this out so you will have to play with it or get a can of your icing of choice, the original recipe called for a cream cheese icing but that was a bit rich for us.

Also, this recipe is great if you have lactose intolerant friends, the only dairy is in the icing and you can skip that and get some soy vanilla ice cream.

We are down to the wire here with the wedding and party only two weeks away, hopefully after it is all over I will have more mental energy for other things, like you know blogging. For the moment check out my two cake posts over on on my blog Tesseract Cloth. These are both yummy and go great with a cuppa.

Summer in my family is highly associated with visits to grandparents in Wisconsin; bratwurst on the grill and sweet corn from roadside stands. Sadly, when I was growing up my Grandmother had pretty much given up baking, but we did at least get her recipes. This pie is one she often made with rhubarb she grew in the garden and it is one of my fathers particular favorites. I have made it my own with a small change to the spices added to the filling, hope you enjoy it.

The Recipe:

Grandma’s Rhubarb Cream Pie

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbls. flour

1/2 tsp nutmeg or ginger

1 tbls butter

2 well beaten eggs

3 cups cubed rhubarb

1 recipe plain pastry for double crust

Blend sugar flour, nutmeg/ginger, butter and eggs. Beat smooth, pour over rhubarb in 9″ pasty lined pie pan. Top with other half of pastry. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 min, then 350 degrees for 30 min. Remove from oven and let sit 10-15 min to cool and set.

Enjoy with a light fruity cuppa tea, we had Upton’s Special Blend Darjeeling FTGFOP, they have many different varieties of Darjeeling.